I am not familiar with the T-bird. Most Fords (if not all) use the High Beam on 25% intensity for that purpose. If yours is that way, I suggest that you park in front of a white wall at night, turn off the auto lights, so that only DRLs are on, and compare between the DRL and the High Beam- impressions may be misleading. If indeed the intensity is the same, you may have a bad DRL module - it's a box, about 2x3x1 in size, with an oval-shaped connector and cooling fins. It will be installed somewhere in the front of the vehicle - can't tell you exactly where. On my 97 Grand Marquis it's behind the grill, attached to the radiator support. On my Explorer it's behind the bumper, below the left headlight.
By the way, are you sure you have DRL at all, and not confusing this with auto lights? Most US Fords are shipped without DRL, because unlike in Canada, it's not required by law in any state.
Hope this helps,
IK